Indicator.



W. G. WOLFE, G. E. BISSELL & W. J. BRANSTETTER;

INDICATOR.

APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 2. 1909.

Patented Sept 27, 1910.

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WILLIAM G. WOLFE, CHARLES E. IBISSELL, AND WILLIAM J. BRANSTETTER, OF I ITTSBUBG, KANSAS.

INDICATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 2?, 19141.

Application filed August 2, 1909. Serial No. 510,821.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, XVILLIAM G. WVOLFE, CHARLES E. BISSELL, and WILLIAM J. Bar ns'rn'r'rnn, citizens of the United States, reading at Pittsburg, in the county of Crawford and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Indicators, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to improvements in indicators and more particularly to one adapted for use on freight cars and other railway equipment for showing the weight and capacity of the car and the date on which it is weighed. I

The object of the invention is to provide a simple and practical device of this character which when secured to the car and then adjusted and sealed, will indicate the desired information in such manner that its reading cannot be changed and the device cannot be removed from the car without destroying the seal.

lVith the above and other objects in view, the invention consists of the novel features of construction and the combination and an rangement of parts hereinafter fully described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front view of the improved indicator showing it closed and sealed; Fig. 2 is a similar view showing it open; Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on the plane indicated by the line in Fig. 1; Fig. 4c is a horizontal section taken on the plane indicated by the line et 1 in Fig. 8; Fig. 5 is a view showing three disks bearing numerals which represent the days of the month; and Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail section showing the manner in which one of the indicator disks is mounted and retained in adjusted position.

The device comprises a hollow body or easing 1 preferably of rectangular form, the back or bottom portion 2 of which is provided with a surrounding wall or rim 3 and is adapted to be secured to the side or side wall of a car by means of screws, bolts, 01' similar fastenings indicated at l These fastenings have their heads countersunk in the back 2 of the body and cannot be reached when the cover 5 is closed and sealed; consequently the device cannot be removed from the car without destroying the seal or mutilating the body. The cover 5 is hinged at (3 to the upper portion of the surrounding rim 3 and swings downwardly into the body, said upper portion of the rim overhanging the cover, as shown at 7 in Fig. 3, so as to protect the contents of the body from the weather. The bottom portion of the rim or flange 3 and the free edge of the cover 5 are formed with apertures 8 adapted to receive a sealing wire 9, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 3. Lugs 10 are formed on the bottom portion of the flange or rim 3 for frictional engagement by the free edge of the cover 5, whereby the latter when closed will be retained against casual opening movement.

Upon the front or outer face of the cover 5 adjacent its top and at the left hand end is the abbreviation lVt for the word weight and on the same line at the right hand end of the cover are two ciphers. Between the latter and the abbreviation are three openings 11 through which may be seen numerals on three indicator dials or disks 12. The disks are similar in construction and similarly mounted, each being in the form of a circular plate having a central pivot opening and an annular series of openings 13 arranged adjacent its edge and between which are ar anged numerals from 1 to 9 inclusive and also a cipher. The central pivot openings in the indicator disks 12 are adapted to receive pivots 141 projecting from the bottom 2 of the body or casing and in the form of bolts, rivets, or the like.

As illustrated in Fig. 6, the pivot 1 1 is in the form of a bolt having its head secured in the bottom or back 2 and a retaining nut 15 upon its projecting threaded end. The openings or apertures 13 in the indicator disks are adapted to receive pins or studs 16 which project from the bottom 2 and are adapted to prevent the disks from rotating. It will be seen that when the cover 5 is raised, as shown in Fig. 2 and the nuts 15 removed from the pivot-s 141 the disks 12 may be re moved and adjusted so that any of the numerals upon them will be positioned so as to appear opposite the openings 11 in the cover when the latter is closed, as shown in Fig. 1.

On the central port-ion of the front face of the cover 5 and adjacent its left hand end is the word Date and to the right of the latter are three openings 17, 18, 19 through which appear numerals on indicator dials or disks arranged on the inner or rear face of the cover 5. A single dial 2O co-acts with the opening 1'7 and has on one of its faces numerals from 1 to 12 inclusive which represent the numbers of the months of the year. The disk 20 is arranged on a pivot 21 and has an annular series of twelve openings 22 which receive a locking pin 23. Three concentric superposed indicator disks or dials 2 1, 25, 26 are arranged to co-act with the opening 18. These three disks bear numerals representing the days of the month, the front disk 24 bearing the numerals 1 to 10 inclusive, the second or intermediate disk bearing the numerals 11 to 20 inclusive and the third or rear disk bearing the numerals 21 to 31 inclusive. The two foremost disks 24, 25 are formed with notches or recesses 27 so that the numerals on the rearmost disk 26 may be exposed through the opening 18. The disks 2 1, 25, 26 are arranged on a pivot 28 and have annular series of openings 29 to receive a locking pin 30. A single indicator dial or disk 31 co-acts with the opening 19 and has upon its front face an annular series of numbers arranged to represent the numbers of the years for a period upward of nine or ten years. Preferably only the last two digits of the ear number are placed on the disk 31, the first two digits of the year number being arranged on the outer face of the cover 5 to the left of the opening 19, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. The disk 31 is mounted on a pivot 32 and has an annular series of openings 33 to receive a locking pin 34:. The pivots 21, 28, 32 are the same in construction as the pivots 11 and the locking pins 23, 30 and 34 are the same as the locking pins 16.

The capacity of the car may be placed upon the bottom portion of the front face of the cover 5 and to the left of the number representing such capacity may be placed the abbreviation Capy for the word capacity. It will be understood that the numbers and abbreviations or words placed upon the outer face of the cover 5 may be painted, embossed, or otherwise stamped or marked upon the device.

If desired, a spring clip 35 may be pro vided within the body on its bottom 2 for the purpose of holding a paper or cardboard scale ticket bearing the number of the car, light weight and date and the name of the party weighing the car. The clip 35 is preferably formed by stamping a U-shaped slit in the bottom 2 and then bending outwardly the tongue formed by said slit, as will be readily understood on reference to Fig. 3. The scale ticket may be readily slipped back of or beneath the tongue-like spring clip 35 for verification and record of weights and dates shown by the indicator disks.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it is thought that the construction, operation and advantages of the invention will be readily understood without a more extended explanation.

\Vhile the preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described in detail, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the construction set forth and that various changes in the form, proportion and arrangement of parts and details of construction may be resorted to within the spirit and scope of the invention.

If desired, the indicator dials or disks may be of flexible material so that they can be sprung out of engagement with the locking pins or studs and rotated to adjusting position without removing the nuts from the pivots of the disks.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed is:

The herein described indicator comprising a casing, a cover plate hinged to one of the walls of the casing and formed with sight openings, pivot studs having enlarged inner ends fixed in the bottom of the casing, their outer ends being screw threaded, retaining pins having enlarged inner ends fixed in the bottom of the casing, indicator disks adapted to be seen through the sight openings in the cover plate and each having a central opening to receive one of said pivot studs, and an annular series of openings to receive one of said retaining pins, 100

and nuts screwed on the threaded ends of the pivot studs to clamp the indicator disks thereon.

In testimony whereof we hereunto affix our signatures in the presence of two wit- 105 nesses.

YVILLIAM Gr. WVOLFE. CHARLES E. BISSELL. WILLIAM J. BRANSTETTER. lVitnesses H. C. J ONES, C. W. VVATERMAN. 

